A Grimm Encounter
by inxpitter
Summary: My 2nd attempt at a fanfic where I try writing as a book instead of a show. Reviews are super helpful and constructive negative ones motivate me as well as the positive ones. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum, and the cover art was taken from the RWBY wikia (which is an awesome resource). This story is going to be rewritten from chapter 1. Sorry for the inconvenience.
1. Chapter 1 - An Interesting Partner

"As you can see by these reports class, the creatures of Grimm have been growing bolder and fiercer each passing month. Who here can tell me the possible reasons?"

Professor Bartholomew Oobleck was zipping around the class as usual. Titus wondered if it was really just coffee in that mug of his.

"Yes! Ms. Mongle!" Oobleck said excitedly.

A girl with short auburn hair spoke confidently from the back of the class.

"Several theories have been made. The first is that the continued hostility between the faunus and humans are contributing to the negative energy that give Grimm's power. The second is that the Grimm themselves are growing and adapting to face us more effectively."

"Precisely!" Professor Oblique set down his mug and addressed the entire classroom. "I'm sure you all realize the seriousness of this phenomenon. Until we can locate what exactly is causing this growth and counteract it, I'm afraid we'll all have to be on our guard. A potential attack can happen at any time, and even here at Beacon."

The class took a moment to digest this information.

"But until then, I want a report on pages fifty six to sixty four. Have it ready by next class. That is all."

The professor zipped out of the classroom, and the class grew in chatter as the students made their way out. Titus sighed, putting his books away. The students at beacon were some of the most promising combatants in the world, so he couldn't understand why they made those students sit through hours of lectures and theories.

He looked around and seeing the classroom was nearly deserted, quickly made his way to the exit. He just got past the door frame when his neck collided with a very firm arm.

"Hey Titus!"

The girl who had answered the last question in class had been waiting for him, and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck into a chokehold. The large of amounts of brown cloth that made up her light coat smothered him slightly as he struggled against her grip. Titus strained to escape, but she was determined to not let him go.

"Hey Connie," Titus managed, flailing slightly. The few remaining students walked past not giving the odd scene a second thought. Just another Tuesday morning.

"You weren't at the team meeting again," she stated, tightening her grip. "I ended up waiting for hours."

"It's too stuffy in the rooms, and I like sleeping outside," Titus said managing to slip out of Connie's grasp. She quickly locker her legs around his and pinned his arms behind his back, they fell to the floor with a small oomph.

"I gave you orders, and I _expect_ you to follow them," she told him. Titus struggled, trying to throw her off.

"Teams are supposed to work together Connie," Titus reminded her, ignoring the fact that he chose to spend most of his time away from the team.

"Yeah," Connie replied before pulling Titus closer and rubbing his head with one of her fists. "And I thought I told you to call General."

"Hey! Position of team leader does not entitle you to a military rank."

"Might as well get used to it now," she said releasing her grip on Titus's grey hair. "The Mongle family has a proud history of military leaders and I'm not about to disappoint."

"Don't you think you should wait for an actual war to break out?"

Connie glared at him through her spectacles. She finally relented and got off Titus, only to lift him up in the air and set him on his feet.

"Combat practice is starting soon, and I expect you to be there." Connie gave him a stern eye. "No skipping or else."

She left, leaving Titus to massage the bruises she had left him.

"Why did they have to partner me with her?" Titus wondered aloud as he rubbed his wrists, watching Connie leave. Even with the traditional initiation being much harder due to the increase of Grimm, Titus couldn't believe his luck when he was paired with the person who had the worst time.

When he first met Connie, she seemed nice enough. Then she demanded to see his semblance and weapon. He responded by immediately walking away.

He was the last to arrive to the training fields, an outdoor arena where the light breezes and warm sun made for an enjoyable environment to get beaten senseless. All eyes were on him, as he quickly made his way towards the back of the class. He sat on the grass next to Connie, who was refusing to meet his eyes, and his two other teammates.

"What's her problem?" asked Gwen. The sun glinted off her chestplate, the result of many hours of care. It was of smaller design focused on minimizing weight and seemed custom made as a holly branch was engraved on the front.

"Ms. Viridian!"

The combat instructor for today, Glynda Goodwitch, was staring at them.

"Save the chatter for after class, perhaps?" she proposed, raising an eyebrow and flicking her wand back and forth.

"Right," Gwen replied, with a nervous smile. "Sorry Professor."

"As I was saying," Glynda continued, "Grimm are not our only concern when it comes to threats. These combat sessions will help you learn how to fight other humans and faunus, as well as find non-lethal ways to restrain your opponent."

Beads of sweat began forming on Titus' forehead. There was no way he was going to get away without using his weapon.

"Please find an unoccupied sparring circle with you partner and begin combat on your own marks. The better you can suppress your partner, the more weaknesses will be revealed for them to work on."

The students split off, some eager to begin immediately while others were looking rather nervous. Titus felt a tap on the back of his head. Connie glared at him again and motioned for a nearby sparring circle.

"As an aspiring general," she finally said as they took their positions, "it's my duty to make use of my troops to the best of their abilities, even if they refuse to share anything."

"I don't suppose you'll settle for hand to hand?"

Connie pulled her weapon off her back. The large two handed battle axe could probable cleave Titus in two if it just fell on him. The blade head resembled a large curved M, and screeched in the air as Connie gave it a few test swings. The white sheen of the blade edge contrasted against the black metal of the main metal head.

Titus remembered a rumor Gwen had passed on to him, that the reason Connie had the worst time was because she had systematically killed every Grimm that had crossed her path. He tried swallowing with his now dry throat.

"Try not to die!" Connie yelled as she charged at Titus.


	2. Chapter 2 - Friendly Sparring

**Not much to do today, so I decided to write a bit more. Sorry these are in such short stints.**

For such a small girl, Connie really knew how to swing a weapon as large as herself. Titus backed up quickly before the axe head sliced the space he was just standing. However, Connie was relentless and continued her assault, using the momentum of the first swing to flow into the next. It was almost a dance, one that if Titus stopped to admire he would soon regret doing so.

"Better get serious!" Connie advised loudly, bringing her axe around for another strike. "Wouldn't want to lower your future combat potential!"

He had no choice.

As the axe came down upon him, Titus stood his ground. He could see the alarm in Connie's eyes as she tried pulling out of the attack. He swiftly pulled his weapon from his side pocket and thrust it against the side of the axe, diverting its course so it dug into the ground beside him.

"Tonfa!?" Connie asked in surprise. "That's what you've been hiding this entire time?"

Titus didn't respond, instead used her momentary confusion to step in for a quick punch, which landed solidly in her gut.

"Oomph," she grunted in pain, but she still didn't let go of her axe. It seems she understood this was still no time for words, and switched her weapon into its secondary form. The two large blades flexed suddenly, freeing itself from the earth and pushing Connie backwards. It was now that Titus could see how Connie handled ranged attacks, the shape of her axe had transitioned into that of a large crossbow.

The small crevice that made up the middle of the M axe, was starting to glow, and he quickly leaped out of the way as a bolt of fire embedded itself where he had been standing. Another shot, and Titus dodged again, this time narrowly missing having his legs frozen to the ground.

"I see you getting closer!" Connie informed him, having regained enough confidence to resume the conversation. She fired another bolt of fire onto the ground several feet in front of her, effectively cutting off the path Titus had been aiming for. He retaliated by firing at her. His tonfa had two sets of compacted ammunition. The end of the shorter side had instant bursts similar to that of a shotgun, while the elongated end could fire as an smg.

Connie combat rolled out the way and returned her crossbow to an axe from to shield herself from the spray of bullets. With another swing, she swept up the ashes, dirt, and dust into the air. Titus covered his eyes

"Heads up!" he heard Connie yell. He fired a few rounds of bullets in the general direction of her voice before he began to notice his vision was getting darker. The breeze had cleared enough of the makeshift smokescreen that he could recognize what was towering over him.

Connie was standing on the top of her axe, the area where her dust bolts fired from. The axe itself had grown tremendously, being tall enough now to reach one of the top floors at Beacon academy, the end of its staff part balanced on the ground.

"We're not allowed to use semblances!" he yelled at her, his voice carrying a bit of panic.

"The instructor didn't specify!" she shouted back, a wry smile on her face.

The axe glowed and returned to its former size almost instantly, leaving Connie up in the air. Two freezing bolts hit his legs, effectively sealing his movement. She then returned it to its gigantic state, now with one blade pointed downwards.

Titus gripped his tonfa tighter, his panic growing. There were several ways he could deal with the falling axe, but that would require….

He shook his head slightly. It was too soon, and there was no guarantee about what would happen afterwards. Instead, he did the only sensible thing.

"I yield!" he yelled loudly, dropping his weapons to the ground.

It didn't look like Connie could hear him, as she showed no signs of stopping. Titus braced himself for impact.

Titus blinked, the enormous axe head inches away from his face. Connie looked surprise too. From either the sudden stop or his lack of resistance, he couldn't tell.

"I would like to remind you Miss Mongle," professor Goodwitch started as she lowered Connie to the ground, "that this combat session's purpose is to find _non-deadly_ ways of subduing an opponent."

Connie shrugged sheepishly.

"I was confident he could dodge it," she explained meekly. Professor Goodwitch sighed and rubbed her brow.

"Please restrain yourself a bit more next time," she asked. "If you have any injuries, go see the clinic, otherwise you're free to leave. I believe the only other match going on currently is the other half of your team so you may go observe them if you wish. I would advise going over your combat experience together as a team."

Professor Goodwitch left, leaving Titus and Connie gave themselves a quick once over. A few singed holes from fire bolts and bullets, but they were otherwise fine.

"You could have given me a bit of a break," Titus told Connie, as they walked over to the far sparring circle that their teammates were using.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Her face reddened slightly, and she looked away from him. "I have a fit of battle mania occasionally."

They walked in silence for a bit.

"So why couldn't you show me your weapon before?" she asked. "I mean, it's just tonfa right? The way you were being so secretive about it I thought it was some kind of death bringer like a scythe or sniper rifle."

Titus skin went a bit cold. There was no change in Professor Goodwitch's demeanor after the match. But he couldn't be too sure someone wouldn't recognize what he was carrying.

"Guess I'm just embarrassed," he offered, meekly. The clang of metal on metal brought both of their attentions center as they watched the final moments of their teammate's match.


End file.
